By ROBERT GAVIN Staff writer

Updated 10:23 pm, Monday, March 14, 2011

A view of the home located at 22 Garden Alley in Albany, NY on Monday, March 14, 2011. A city man beat and choked his wife until she was unconscious, doused her with bleach, and then called her family, demanding $100,000 to spare her life, police said. Philemon A. Chavis, 44, of 22 Garden Alley, was charged with attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping, assault and other charges after the Sunday morning attack at his home. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

A view of the home located at 22 Garden Alley in Albany, NY on...

A view of the home located at 22 Garden Alley in Albany, NY on Monday, March 14, 2011. A city man beat and choked his wife until she was unconscious, doused her with bleach, and then had her called her family to demand $100,000 to spare her life, police said. Philemon A. Chavis, 44, of 22 Garden Alley, was charged with attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping, assault and other charges after the Sunday morning attack at his home. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

ALBANY -- Until early Sunday, the red brick home at 22 Garden Alley, on a remote street of homes off Dove Street, was known as a renovated 1886 carriage house.

But that morning, police allege, 44-year-old Philemon Chavis transformed it into a house of savage domestic abuse that caused a brain injury to his wife -- and could have turned deadly.

Authorities say Chavis, a public works investigator for the state Department of Labor, attacked his wife, Karen Chavis, 46, between 7 a.m. and 8:20 a.m.

Albany police described the incident as follows:

Chavis repeatedly slammed his wife's head into concrete, dragged her upstairs and poured bleach all over her. He punched her in the head and elsewhere while threatening to kill her -- then choked her neck until she lost consciousness.

He then abducted the unconscious woman, placed her in the passenger seat of his vehicle, tied her up with the seat belt and forced her to call her family to demand $100,000 or "he was going to kill her." It was an attempt to make her family believe she had been kidnapped.

But after they received the ransom call, the wife's family called police in the town of Bethlehem, who then transferred the call to Albany police who sent officers to the home. There, they met Chavis, who brought the cops into his home to look for his wife -- then ran out toward 397 Madison Ave., which is to the rear of the home.

"They went back to the house to continue to look for the wife," a statement from police said, "and found her in the car unconscious."

The wife suffered bleeding on the brain, two broken ribs, a collapsed lung, cracked teeth and a number of other injuries. She is in Albany Medical Center Hospital in critical condition, authorities said.

Chavis has been charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, strangulation, felony assault and possessing a weapon. If convicted, he faces 25 years in state prison.

Police said their information came from interviewing the wife, conversations with her family and a "review of a recording relative to the incident."

After he was apprehended, Chavis allegedly admitted possessing an electronic stun gun, saying, "Yup, I have one in my right jacket pocket."

He also told an officer: "I guess I'm going to have to switch over to the dark side."

When an officer indicated not understanding the remark, Chavis said, "I just have to go over to the dark side."

On Monday afternoon, no one answered the door at the home when a reporter rang the bell. The only occupant appeared to be a cat in an upstairs window.

On Garden Alley, residents said Chavis owns garages, two luxury cars and a parking lot at the end of the street.

They were hesitant to give their names, but two residents recalled hearing noise Sunday morning.

"I heard one little scream and looked out the window and didn't see anything," said a neighbor who has lived on the block for 15 years near the home. He said he thought it was partying college kids.

Asked about the couple, he said he never witnessed any trouble.

"They're nice people," he said. "No problems. No anything." He said Chavis and he once helped catch a burglar who had broken into Chavis' garage.

Two women who live nearby were less flattering of Chavis. They said he would arrogantly yell at young children to keep off a parking lot.

"He's definitely a control freak, you can tell... he's in everyone's business up and down the block," one of the women said. She said at times Chavis would present himself as someone trying to clean up the neighborhood but also called police on young children.

"He tries to scare everyone around here, saying he's a private investigator and he has all these connections with Albany (police) or whatever," she said.

She said the wife was "pleasant" and appeared embarrassed at times by her husband's actions.

"I've always seen them, they looked happy," the other woman said. "Every time I've seen them they were jogging, biking, walking. I've never seen anything out of the ordinary. ... Wow, I can't believe it."

The other woman interjected, "But he was definitely off."

Leo Rosales, a state Department of Labor spokesman, could not say whether Chavis was suspended. He said Chavis has since March 2001 been a public works investigator, a job in which he probes illegal prevailing wage issues.

"First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the victim of this horrible crime and her family," Rosales said.

After his arraignment in City Court, Chavis was sent to Albany County jail without bail. His occupation was listed as auditor on police records.